Bringing Comfort Amid Destruction

C.J.'s Bus travelled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Saturday, April 30, 2011 to bring relief to those suffering after tornadoes destroyed large swaths of the city on April 27th.

C.J.'s Bus volunteers begin loading up cars and the bus at the Clarion Inn on U.S. 41 in Evansville for their relief deployment to Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Saturday morning, April 30, 2011.

C.J.'s bus cruises along Interstate 65 in Tennessee on it's way to Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Saturday, April 30, 2011 in an effort to provide relief to the children of the tornado ravaged area.

Matt Noble, right, fills up C.J.'s Bus on of numerous gas stations the group needed to stop at about every 70 miles. The weight of the modified school bus and steep grades of the highways in Tennessee and Northern Alabama led Noble to put the fuel mileage at, "about three miles per gallon." Bob Rothschild of Evansville Garage Doors sought out the group the day before their deployment and offered to sponsor the fuel for the group's deployment.

Matt Noble, right, and John Martin, second from right, look under the hood of C.J.'s Bus as they assess the damage to the bus's radiator after the bus struck a piece of storm debris along Interstate 65 a half-mile from Warrior, Ala, just over 80 miles from their final destination.

Donna Feagley sits on the steps of C.J.'s Bus as she waits with other volunteers for a new radiator to arrive for the bus along Interstate 65 near Warrior, Ala on Saturday, April 30, 2011. The group was just a few hours away from reaching their destination on Saturday when they struck a piece of storm debris in the roadway and were forced to stop for repairs.

A local school bus flies past Matt Noble as he tries to remove the broken radiator from C.J.'s Bus after Kathryn Martin, the group's founder, found a shop that offered to repair the crucial engine part about 40 minutes away in Faulkville, Ala.

John Martin takes a picture of the damage to the radiator of C.J.'s Bus to send to the repair shop for them to see if they could make the necessary repairs to the part.

Matt Noble, covered in grease and grime from removing the radiator from C.J.'s Bus, teases fellow volunteer Tara Greenlee as they wait along the side of Interstate 65 for a their radiator to be repaired.

David Gibbs from Rodeo's Garage in Faulkville, Ala. arrives to transport the group's radiator to a shop in Mayfield, Ala. to be repaired. Gibbs assured the group it would take an hour to travel each way and probably an hour to repair the radiator, giving them hope they'd be back on the road by 10:30pm on Saturday.

Matt Noble, left, and John Martin, right, slip the group's newly repaired radiator back into place at the front of the bus's engine after 1am on Sunday, May 1, 2011. The group spent hours waiting for the repaired part to arrive and after an hour spent reinstalling and reassembling the casing for the part, they found the leak still unfixed.

Volunteers with C.J.'s Bus watch as the bus is towed into a gas station in Warrior, Ala. around 4:30am after spending 11 hours on the side of the road on Interstate 65. After a failed attempt to fix their radiator, the group was left with no other option but to have the bus towed the remaining distance to Tuscaloosa, Ala. in order to be there in the morning for children expecting them.

Volunteers from C.J.'s Bus pose for a portrait beside their bus and it's tow rig at a gas station in Warrior, Ala as they prepare to make the final leg of their trip to Tuscaloosa after waiting hours to find a solution to their radiator troubles.

After 24 straight hours on the road, no sleep and little to eat, John Martin guides C.J.'s Bus into a grassy field at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. where the bus will serve the community. The group was determined to meet the commitment they made to the community and local Red Cross shelter to be there on Sunday morning ready for children.

Matt Noble begins setting up C.J.'s Bus shortly after arriving in Tuscaloosa at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. as he pulls apart the walls of the passenger side of the bus.

Matt Noble and John Martin position a bookshelf as the volunteers begin transitioning C.J.'s Bus from it's travel phase to it's operational set-up shortly after arriving at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Kathryn Martin blows a kiss as she waves goodbye to tow-truck driver Richard Darnell of Cullman Towing in Cullman, Ala. Darnell made the tow run just after 4am on Sunday, May 1, 2011 in order to help the bus reach it's destination in time to help the children they promised to be there for. No other towing company would make the tow before 10am on Sunday.

C.J.'s Bus volunteers are reflected in the windows of a bus support vehicle as they begin setting up a play area for children and unloading supplies from the bus on Sunday morning at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

C.J.'s Bus volunteers take a break from set-up of the bus early Sunday morning in Tuscaloosa. After staying awake for over 24 straight hours through their long trek to Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, the volunteers were all thoroughly exhausted, but still had kids on the way. With no time to get any sleep, they had to snag breaks where they could.

Joshua Whitehead, 4, and Faith Whitehead, 8, play wiffle ball with Donna Feagley on Sunday at the C.J.'s Bus site at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Brittany Ashby, left, and Lissa Rust, right, play with Play Doh on C.J.'s Bus with Jamica Simmons, 8, right, and Ja'Dayazia Davis, 7, left. The Simmons sisters were victims of the strong tornadoes that destroyed several communities in Southern Alabama on April 27th.

Kathryn Martin, Executive Director and Founder of C.J.'s Bus, plays with Jadeona Davis, 4, in the bus on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Martin's two-year-old son C.J. was killed in the devastating tornadoes that struck the Evansville area in November 2005. Afterward, Martin went back to school to get her degree in human services with a special focus in child advocacy and founded C.J.'s Bus in honor of her late son.

Jordan Driver dunks a ball playing at C.J.'s bus on Sunday afternoon. Driver, a victim of the April 27th tornadoes that ravaged Southern Alabama, is now a resident of the Belk Activity Center Red Cross Shelter at Bowers Park where C.J.'s Bus is stationed.

Tara Greenlee managed a large group of kids as they color and play games inside C.J.'s Bus. Over 60 children came to the bus on Sunday and taxed the group of 10 volunteers who had gotten no sleep the night before during their radiator struggles.

An American flag recovered from the rubble of the community of Holt in Tuscaloosa, Ala. flies at what used to be Lucky Dollar convenience store and gas station at the corner of Crescent Ridge Road Northeast and First Street East. First Street East, seen in the photo lined with cars, tents and people, used to be a heavily wooded community. No trees remain after the tornadoes that ripped through Tuscaloosa on April 27th and damage extends for miles as no structures were left standing.

Tony Woolbright makes his way through the rubble of his home at 3902 First Street Northeast in Holt, a community of Tuscaloosa, Ala. located just outside city limits in Tuscaloosa County. Woolbright was at home with his 91-year-old mother and his girlfriend, Rhonda Pugh, when the tornado struck their home. Woolbright and Pugh ran down to the basement but Woolbright's mother decided to stay in her room in the corner of the home because her walker made it difficult to get into the basement. "As soon as we got down to the basement you could hear the roar of the freight train," Woolbright said. "The back wall got sucked out and it tried to suck us out but we were holding onto a post." The family survived and only suffered minor bruising. The room Woolbright's mother was in was the only room of the house to survive too as her easy chair sat in the corner where his mother road out the storm exactly where it had been before. "She sat right there and said, 'the good lord's gonna take care of me,' and he did," said Woolbright. "You know what's miraculous, her bible was sitting on the desk by the window and her bible didn't move." "Momma wants to rebuild, we don't know if we want her to rebuild or not. We told her if she wants to rebuild she should do it across the road."

Rhonda Pugh holds up a picture of her grandfather she managed to find in the rubble of her boyfriend, Tony Woolbright's, home on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Woolbright and Pugh were at home with Woolbright's 91-year-old mother when the tornado hit. The couple had just moved back to Tuscaloosa four months ago from Texas. Pugh, a live-in nurse was helping Woolbright care for his mother when they moved back. The couple road out the storm in the basement of the home, clinging to a pipe to keep from being sucked out of the building. Woolbright's mother decided to remain in her easy chair in her room where she remained until the storm passed, suffering only minor cuts and bruises. Pugh said on finding the photo of her grandfather, "I'm so glad I found this, he was my rock."

A home at the corner of 10th Street East and 21st Avenue in the Alberta City community of Tuscaloosa, Ala. sits destroyed by one of several powerful tornadoes that ripped through Southern Alabama on April 27th.

Latia Cobbs prays to Jesus Christ, thanking him for keeping her and her four sons safe during the devastating tornadoes on April 27th, as clouds break to reveal the sunset over Alberta City, a community of Tuscaloosa, Ala. An EF4 tornado destroyed Cobbs' home and everything she owned. One of the first things she and her neighbor, Susie Palmer, did upon returning to recover salvageable belongings was construct a cross from the remains of Cobbs' home. A piece of wood next to the remnants of Cobbs' car in the background reads John 3:16, a reference to the Biblical text, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, and that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "We were just holding on and my son was screaming," Cobbs said. "We just held on and I just started praising God. My other son was doing it too and he just all of the sudden stood up on his knees and that's when the wind got that grasp to be able to suck him out of there. He was saying, 'you can't have my family!' and then all of the sudden we saw him just flip on out backwards out of the hole." Cobbs' son suffered several cuts and bruises after being sucked out of the house by the tornado, but was able to pull the rest of the family from under the rubble of their home after the tornado passed.

A car no rests upside down on the front stoop of where a house once stood in Alberta City, a community of Tuscaloosa, Ala. An EF4 tornado destroyed homes throughout the community as it progressed through the city on April 27th.

Matt and Jenn Noble walk down 10th Street East toward Kicker Road East in Alberta City, a community of Tuscaloosa, Ala. The mangled and twisted piles of steel they walk toward are the remnants of a warehouse that sat near the intersection before an EF4 tornado ripped through the city on April 27th.

Jameca Simmons, left, and Ja'Dayazia Davis, right, blow bubbles in the field around C.J.'s Bus at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala on Sunday, May 1, 2011. A line of dozens of people who now call the Belk Activity Center at Bowers Park (a Red Cross shelter) their home, line up up and wait for pizzas being given away by Papa Johns.

Sadie Perez, 10, plays with stuffed animals at C.J.'s Bus on Monday, May 2, 2011 in the grassy field where the bus set up it's play area in Bower's Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Hands traced with colored Sharpie markers document the children who visited C.J.'s Bus in Tuscaloosa. Each child traced their hand and signed their name to join those from previous deployments by the bus. The walls all inside C.J.'s Bus are covered in handprints and outlines.

Kathryn Martin plays with Jay'Mikia Bates, 3, at C.J.'s Bus on Monday, May 2, 2011. Bates and her three siblings lost everything when their home in Alberta City was destroyed by an EF4 tornado on April 27th. They now live in a Red Cross shelter at the Belk Activities Center at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. with hundreds of other tornado victims.

Jay'Mon Bates, 5, paints the face of Alyson Jackson on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 on C.J.'s Bus. Jackson, a resident of Gulf Shores, Ala., was in Tuscaloosa as a volunteer and quickly became part of the C.J.'s Bus family. Jackson found the group a place to stay on the campus of he University of Alabama so they wouldn't have to sleep on the bus at night and volunteered each day, playing with the kids.

Jay'Mikia Bates, 3, shows off her new hat to Donna Feagley on C.J.'s Bus on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Heavy rains kept most kids in the Red Cross shelter at the Belk Activities Center at Bowers Park on Tuesday, but the Bates children missed the bus too much be kept away. While volunteers planned on using the day to determine a new location for the bus closer to affected areas, when the children showed up, they opened the doors and found activities to keep them entertained.

Jay'Mon Bates, 5, stares out from his blanket as he rests in the arms of Alyson Jackson, a volunteer from Alabama who joined up with C.J.'s Bus on their deployment to Tuscaloosa. Bates and his three siblings are now residents of a Red Cross Shelter housed in the Belk Activities Center at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa. Many residents complain the crowded shelter is too loud at night to get any sleep. C.J's Bus became the only place the Bates children could find peace and quiet on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

Jay'Quan Bates, 4, takes a nap on the floor of C.J.'s Bus on a yellow dinosaur donated to the bus by a local Mercedes Benz representative. Bates and his three siblings find it hard to get any rest in the crowded Red Cross shelter they now live in and all three took hours long naps at C.J.'s Bus on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

Jay'Quan Bates, 4, holds tightly to the shoulder of Tony Goben as he is walked to his aunt's car to return to the shelter where his family now lives. Their home in Alberta City was destroyed by an EF4 tornado on April 27th and the family lost everything.

Jay'Mikia Bates, 3, cries as she prepares to return to the Red Cross shelter her family now calls home after spending the day at C.J.'s Bus on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. "They wake up every morning crying because they want to come to the bus," Sonjanice James, the children's aunt, said.

Hundreds of cots fill one of two gymnasiums at the Belk Activities Center at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The recreation center is now the home to over 250 people who lost everything in the April 27th tornadoes that ravaged Tuscaloosa, Ala. This is room that many of the children at C.J.'s Bus return to every night when the bus closes it's doors. Many residents complain it's impossible to get any rest in the building and little room exists for children to play.

Monique Chandler sits with her four children after her three oldest, Jay'Mikia, Jay'Mon and Jay'Quan Bates all returned from a day at C.J.'s Bus on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. The children play with toys they received from the bus in their small corner of the Belk Activities Center at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. where the Red Cross shelter they now call home is located. On Wednesday, the C.J.'s Bus crew returned to Evansville to briefly resupply and regroup before returning to Tuscaloosa on Friday. They moved the bus closer to Alberta City, where the children's home used to be, because many residents refuse to leave what's left of their belongings for fear of looters and because it's all they have left. With the bus attempting to serve a larger community, but gone from Bowers Park, the children are upset. "They woke up this morning crying," Monique said on Thursday. "I had to explain to them the bus had to go visit other children. The only thing they can do is go outside to the side of the building and play a few games, but that's it."